Santo 61, Dublin 0 — Jackson McKinnerney ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns and added a 22-yard scoring catch, while Rylan Griffith passed for 59 yards and two scores to help the Wildcats run away from the Lions.
Santo outgained Dublin 405-60, holding the Lions to minus-2 rushing yards on 18 attempts. The Wildcats picked off five passes and forced seven total turnovers in the win.
San Saba 34, Eastland 19 — Enrique Mendoza ran for 182 yards and two touchdowns to lead a 438-yard rushing effort for the Armadillos in a two-touchdown win.
Jason Everett added 167 yards and two TDs of his own to help San Saba, which finished with 460 total yards in the win.
Ballinger 27, Odessa Compass 20 — Brody Wilde had an 89-yard kickoff return touchdown and a 70-yard pick-six to go with 40 yards rushing and 26 yards receiving to power the Bearcats to a hard-fought win over the Cougars.e
Wyatt Clemens added 165 yards and two touchdowns passing, and Hunter Kresta received for 91 yards and a TD as Ballinger made a 21-14 halftime lead hold up in the final two quarters for its second straight win to start the season.
Goldthwaite 48, Granger 0 — The Eagles (2-0) remained unbeaten with a blowout win at Granger.
Hayess Greenway threw for 261 yards and three TDs and rushed for 115 to lead Goldthwaite, which will face archrival San Saba (1-1) next week.
Granger fell to 1-1.
Cisco 38, Comanche 6 — Colby McIlroy passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns and added another score on the ground to fuel the Loboes to a lopsided win over the Indians.
Landry Vosburg added 102 yards and one TD rushing, and Cannon Harris had 84 yards and two TDs receiving to help Cisco, which led 24-6 by halftime.
Forsan 44, Roscoe 19 — Owen Bishop threw for 228 yards and two scores and Ashton Ellis rushed for 168 yards and three TDs to lead Forsan (2-0) over Roscoe.
The Plowboys (0-2) produced 309 total yards, but were crippled by four turnovers.
Haskell 62, Bangs 44 — Haskell’s offensive explosion continued with a road win at Bangs on Friday night. Through two games, the Indians (1-1) have scored 124 points.
Bangs (1-1) was led by Connor Bible, who rushed for 283 yards and three touchdowns.
Coahoma 37, Brownfield 0 — Austin Joslin passed for 304 yards and three touchdowns, hitting Austin Molina five times for 110 yards and two of those scores, to lead the Bulldogs to a blowout win over the Cubs.
Coahoma (1-1) also ran for 165 yards, led by Aiden Rodriguez, with 47 yards and a TD on 15 attempts, while Tyler Rechichar (3-51 receiving) added a touchdown catch in the win.
Hico 31, Cross Plains 14 — Tyler Rainwater threw for 201 yards and rushed for 108 with two TDs to lead Hico (2-0) to a win over Cross Plains (1-1).
The Buffaloes were led by William Albrecht, who passed for 96 yards and rushed for 83.
Wall 55, La Joya 14 — The Hawks went up three classifications and handed the Coyotes a lopsided loss, amassing 482 total yards in a dominating effort.
Gunner King passed for 222 yards and five touchdowns, while Gunner Garza added 127 yards and a TD rushing on just 10 carries and Evan Boehle received for 77 yards and two scores.
Jacksboro 48, Boyd 24
Hoytt Wesson threw for 141 yards and rushed for 149 while accounting for four touchdowns to help Jacksboro improve to 2-0.
Boyd was limited to 283 total yards, including only 50 on the ground.
Mineral Wells 24, Pilot Point 19 — Aleck Gonzales ran for 132 yards and two touchdowns and Slade Evans ran for 98 yards and a TD to lead the Rams to a thrilling win over the Bearcats a game dubbed Worrell War 1.
Pitting Mineral Wells coach Cody Worrell against his dad, Pilot Point head man Chad Worrell, the game saw the Rams increase a 7-0 halftime lead to 17-6 in the third quarter and 24-12 in the fourth before holding on for the victory.
Clyde 55, Tolar 26 — Devan Wright rushed for 127 yards and three scores and threw for 188 yards and two more TDs as Clyde scored an impressive road win at Tolar.
Clyde improved to 2-0 with the win; Tolar dropped to 0-2.
Andrews 42, Big Spring 34 — Tommy Evans ran for 242 yards and four touchdowns, including three in the final 10 minutes, to lead the Mustangs to a remarkable comeback win over the Steers.
Big Spring, which got 172 yards and two touchdowns passing from Javon Jackson and TDs from both its special teams (blocked punt return) and defense (interception return), stretched a 21-14 halftime lead to 34-14 by the 10:26 mark of the fourth quarter. But Andrews, which also got 161 yards rushing from Blas Hernandez, scored the game’s final four touchdowns, taking a 35-34 lead on Evans’ final score with 5:37 to play before icing the game with a Jorge Rodriguez TD run with just under two minutes remaining.
Gatesville 27, Glen Rose 19 — Glen Rose fell unexpectedly to Gatesville on the road as a 17-point favorite.
The Tigers were led by Judd Connally, who rushed for 31 yards and two TDs and threw for 150.
Both teams levelled off at 1-1.
Salado 34, Blanco 14 — Max Gist threw for 168 yards and two TDs and Zack Adcox rushed for 107 yards and two more TDs to lift Salado over Blanco.
SHS (1-1) built a 20-0 first quarter lead and was never threatened after that.
Blanco fell to 1-1.
Waco University 29, China Spring 23 — Ray Brown Jr. rushed for 225 yards and three scores and Cameron Holleman threw for 146 yards and another TD to lift University to a difficult win over an improved China Spring club.
The Trojans improved to 2-0 with the win; China Spring fell to 1-1.
Photos by Susanna Jackson, HubCityPreps.com
LUBBOCK — The Wylie football team bounced back from its season-opening setback against Brownwood with one of the most dominant performances in the Big Country on Friday, blasting Lubbock Monterey 49-3 to even its season record at 1-1.
The Bulldogs outgained the Plainsmen 487-174, building a 42-0 lead by halftime on their way to the blowout victory.
Quarterback Jadin Karleskint led the offensive effort, completing 15 of 17 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns, while the WHS defense limited Monterey to just 44 yards rushing on 23 attempts and a 10-of-24 tally in the passing game.
BROWNWOOD – When Brownwood’s Trent Buffington broke a 27-yard touchdown run that gave the Lions a 24-21 lead over Stephenville with 1:29 left in Friday night’s football game, Yellow Jackets quarterback Trot Jordan, along with receivers Adan Jergins and Caden Monk, said the Lions left too much time on the clock.
Several Brownwood fans were wondering the same thing.
Turns out they were right.
Jordan, who had thrown two interceptions and had passed for a modest 88 yards to that point, was facing a third-and-15 from the Jackets’ 25-yard line with one minute to play.
The all-state quarterback regrouped and threw a strike across the middle to Monk, his sophomore receiver. Monk eluded one defender and outran another on the way to a 75-yard touchdown pass with 50 seconds left that gave the Jackets a 28-24 win.
HAMILTON — With two of Big Country Preps’ newcomers going head-to-head in their first BCP Game of the Week, the Mason Punchers and Hamilton Bulldogs put together a legitimate classic on Friday at Kooken Field.
San Saba move-in Luke Tharp rushed for 139 yards and four scores to lead Mason to a 46-44 win in a game that saw four lead changes and two ties before the issue was finally settled after 10 p.m. Tharp added two fourth-quarter TDs to provide the Punchers with the winning edge, improving sixth-ranked 2A DI Mason to 2-0.
Hamilton (0-2), which carried a 37-30 edge into the fourth quarter, was led by Oliver Summers with 352 yards passing and four scores. Madden Weaver was his top target, hauling in nine passes for 235 yards and two TDs.
“We told our kids that we play games like this to see where we’re at,” Mason coach Wade Griffin said. “We play games like this to challenge ourselves and we were definitely challenged tonight by an amazing football team and I’m just glad we found one more play than they did.”
STAMFORD — On paper, Friday night’s game between Stamford and De Leon looked like it would be an exciting matchup after both squads put up magnificent offensive performances to open the season.
Stamford sophomore quarterback Miles Follis was coming off a 363-yard passing effort (No. 3 in the Big Country Preps coverage area) and had favorite target Slayden Young (9-215 receiving) ready to build off a week that saw him finish with the second-most receiving yards and third-highest catch total in the area.
On the other sideline, the Bearcats had Lane Couch, who had 14 carries for 351 yards in De Leon’s season opener.
When the two squads took to the field at Bill Anderson Stadium, though, it was all Bearcats as De Leon steamrolled Stamford for a 57-7 win.
The Abilene High football team managed just 226 yards and a pair of touchdowns Friday in the 66th annual Crosstown Showdown against archrival Cooper.
But thanks to an opportunistic defensive effort that saw the Eagles force the game’s only two turnovers and make a pair of key stops on their own end of the field, that was enough to secure a 14-6 victory in front of a healthy crowd at Shotwell Stadium.
The Cougars outgained AHS by 112 yards, including a 104-58 advantage on the ground. But the Eagles turned their only two trips inside the Cooper 35-yard line into touchdowns and turned the Coogs away without points in two of their three trips inside the AHS 40 to claim their fifth straight win in the rivalry series.
Two local volleyball teams in the midst of outstanding seasons met Thursday, when Class 5A No. 11 Wylie hosted Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Class 3A contender Abilene Christian.
In the end, the Lady Bulldogs were too much for the Lady Panthers, earning a 25-14, 25-8, 25-9 sweep, but both teams left Bulldog Gym feeling good about the effort they put into the match and their chances of achieving their broader goals this season.
Wylie, which has now won 18 of its last 19 matches, was happy to take care of business on its home floor on a night marked by individual milestones. And ACS, which opened TAPPS 3A District 1 play with a sweep of Burton Adventist Academy on Tuesday, was happy to be exposed to a team of the Lady Bulldogs’ quality as it embarks on the most important stretch of its season.
7 p.m. Friday, Shotwell Stadium, Abilene
7 p.m. Friday, Lowrey Field, Lubbock
SWEETWATER — When the calendar flipped from June to July this year, the Coleman Bluecats football team was preparing for its 13th season under John Elder, who had amassed 81 wins and eight playoff berths while leading the program since the 2014 season.
Not even two weeks later, on July 13, Elder announced that he was stepping away from the program in a move that sent shockwaves across the Big Country coaching community.
A week later, Coleman ISD named Elder’s offensive coordinator, Zach Edington, as his successor for at least the 2026 season.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we’ll post our picks for all of that week’s 11-man games and select six-man games, in addition to the results of our weekly fan polls for each matchup.
Disagree with our picks or the fan poll consensus? Let us know in the comments section below.
LAST WEEK: 55-19, .743
SEASON TOTAL: 55-19, .743
Our Big Country Preps Game of the Week is as much a welcoming as it is a top matchup.
With 2A DI state champion Hamilton (now in 3A DII) playing host to fourth-ranked 2A DI Mason, much of the state will be interested in the results this produces.
But, with both schools now entering their first season under the Big Country Preps coverage banner, it quickly became an opportunity to roll out the red carpet for both clubs as well.
Hamilton, which is coming off a 26-21 loss to 2A superpower Bremond, will be fired up with the home crowd behind it.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Brownwood-Wylie football (56 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Cisco-Clyde football (15 images)”
The Wylie volleyball team continued its outstanding start the season Tuesday, sweeping Midland Christian in a rare home match to claim its sixth consecutive win and 17th victory in its last 18 matches.
Playing at Bulldog Gym for the first time this season, the Lady Bulldogs downed the Lady Mustangs 21-9, 25-21, 27-25 to improve to 22-4 on the year.
After dominating the opening set, WHS rallied from a 20-14 deficit in Game 2 and dug out of a 23-21 hole in the deciding third set, fighting off game point to end the match in three.
The six-man season got underway with a bang in Week 1, which featured a number of thrilling games and eye-popping individual efforts.
As we have done on Mondays the past two years, it’s time to recap the best of those in our weekly “Six-Man Rewind” column.
We hope you enjoy taking a look back at the week that was in Big Country six-man football and encourage you to check out our new “Six-Man/Class 1A Central” page for more information on your favorite six-man teams.
Before Haskell senior quarterback Haegen Pinkerton arrived at HHS as a freshman, the name of Pinkerton was something I associated with the famous detective agency.
I now associate it with statistical insanity, and you should associate it with the Big Country Preps Player of the Week.
Pinkerton, who was behind center in Haskell’s 80-62 loss to Stamford, had one of the biggest nights I can recollect in a losing effort, accounting for seven touchdowns on Friday.
Hitting 15 of 22 throws for 193 yards, three of Pinkerton’s deliveries went for scores. But it was on the ground where he did most of his damage, rushing 29 times for 290 yards and four touchdowns to help keep the Indians competitive.
Each week here at Big Country Preps, we offer fans the chance to pick the winners of all games involving our local and area football teams. The results of these weekly polls, which will close at 5 p.m. each Thursday, will be included in our weekly Pick ‘Em Panel.
Here are the games for Week 2:
Brownwood 13, Wylie 7 — Four empty red zone trips, including three inside the BHS 10-yard line, proved too much for the Bulldogs to overcome in a tough home loss to the Lions.
A pair of unsuccessful field goals, a fumble and a turnover on downs kept Wylie from capitalizing on a 301-250 yardage advantage, as the Bulldogs only points came on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Jadin Karleskint to Dylan Regala with a 1:40 remaining in the game.
San Angelo Central 28, Abilene High 23 — A slow start proved too much to overcome as the Eagles’ attempt to rally out of a 21-3 third-quarter hole came up just short in a hard-fought loss to the Bobcats.
AHS, which got two touchdown passes and a scoring run from quarterback Tristan Beal, outscored Central 20-14 in the second half, but a 14-3 halftime deficit, which grew to 18 points after a blocked punt was returned for a touchdown, was too big a gap to close.
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Hawley-Albany football (87 images)”
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Continue reading “PHOTO GALLERY: Coahoma-Forsan football (55 images)”
Santo 22, Chilton 13 — Jackson McKinnerney ran for 142 yards and a touchdown, while Rylan Griffith ran for 88 yards and passed for 50 to help the Wildcats kick off the 2026 season with an impressive win over the Pirates.
Santo, which saw a 14-0 lead after a quarter whittled to 14-13 in the third, outgained Chilton 348-221 — including 298-171 on the ground — to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the turnover margin.
Goldthwaite 59, Junction 27
Goldthwaite dominated Junction, outgaining JHS 502-220, including 283 yards rushing.
Haynes Greenway led GHS, with 219 yards passing and three scores.
Landry Sanderson was the top ground gainer for Goldthwaite with 132 yards and four TDs on 22 carries.
Coleman 16, San Angelo Grape Creek 12 — Post-touchdown conversions were the difference in this matchup, which saw the Bluecats cash in two-point conversions after both of their touchdowns while the Eagles failed to convert after either of their two scores.
Grape Creek, which trailed 8-6 at halftime, led 12-8 in the third quarter after following a first-half defensive touchdown with a rushing score. But Coleman closed out the scoring with a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Hunter Edington to Jayden Smith for what proved to be the winning points.
Colorado City 29, Roscoe 22 (OT) — The Wolves followed up their shocking upset of Sonora in last season’s finale with another impressive showing to open the 2026 campaign, outlasting the Plowboys in overtime.
Quarterback Ace Mejia led the way for C-City, rushing for 173 yards and two touchdowns to go with his 107 yards and additional TD passing, while sophomore Joel Hernandez finished with 86 yards on just eight carries, including the game-sealing 22-yard touchdown run in overtime (shown in the video above).
Stamford 80, Haskell 62 — The Bulldogs outlasted Haskell in a shootout for the ages.
Miles Follis threw for 324 yards and four scores and Brenham Walker rushed for 134 yards and a TD to lead Stamford (1-0).
Haskell was led by Haegan Pinkerton with 339 yards rushing and four TDs. He also threw for 176 yards and three more scores.
Comanche 28, Breckenridge 6 — Cooper Welch threw for 135 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 pass attempts, and LaDainian Smith added 63 yards and a pair of scores on the ground to fuel the Indians to a three-score win over the Buckaroos.
Comanche also got productive days from Nicolas Anaya (6-91 rushing) and Zaden Tello (6-82 rushing; 2-64, 1 TD receiving) in increasing a 13-0 halftime lead to 28-0 in the fourth quarter before Breckenridge finally got on the board with an 80-yard kickoff return.
Colorado City 29, Roscoe 22 (OT) — Ace Mejia threw for 206 yards and two scores and rushed for 173 yards and two more TDs to lift Colorado City to a win in overtime.
Aydin Cruces led Roscoe with 206 yards passing for two scores.
Roscoe will play host to Forsan (1-0) next Friday.
Crane 21, Odessa Compass 14 — The Golden Cranes kicked off the Cannon McWilliams era with a victory, never trailing in an impressive win over the Cougars to keep the district from going winless in Week 1.
After scoring first in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead into halftime, Crane watched Compass rally to tie the game on a 24-yard pass early in the third quarter. But the Golden Cranes answered with a pair of TD passes of their own to go up 21-7 in the fourth quarter before holding on down the stretch to make a winner out of the former Big Spring coach.